A variety of commercially-available software tools exist for assisting companies in testing the performance and functionality of their web-based transactional servers and associated applications prior to deployment. Examples of such tools include the LoadRunner®, WinRunner® and Astra QuickTest® products of Mercury Interactive Corporation, the assignee of the present application.
Using these products, a user can record or otherwise create a test script which specifies a sequence of user interactions with the transactional server. The user may also optionally specify certain expected responses from the transactional server, which may be added to the test script as verification points. For example, the user may record a session with a web-based travel reservation system during which the user searches for a particular flight, and may then define one or more verification points to check for an expected flight number, departure time or ticket price.
Test scripts generated through this process are “played” or “executed” to simulate the actions of users—typically prior to deployment of the component being tested. During this process, the testing tool monitors the performance of the transactional server, including determining the pass/fail status of any verification points. Multiple test scripts may be replayed concurrently to simulate the load of a large number of users. Using an automation interface of the LoadRunner product, it is possible to dispatch test scripts to remote computers for execution.
The results of the test are typically communicated to the user through a series of reports that are accessible through the user interface of the testing tool. The reports may contain, for example, graphs or charts of the observed response times for various types of transactions. Performance problems discovered through the testing process may be corrected by programmers or system administrators.
A variety of tools and services also exist that allow web site operators to monitor the post-deployment performance of their web sites. For example, hosted monitoring services now exist which use automated agents to access a web site at regular intervals throughout the day. The agents measure the time required to perform various web site functions, and report the results to a server provided by Keynote Systems. The owner or operator of the web site can access this server using a web browser to view the collected performance data on a city-by-city or other basis. Other types of existing monitoring tools include log analysis tools that process access logs generated by web servers, and packet sniffing tools that monitor traffic to and from the web server. Further, using the LoadRunner ActiveTest service of Mercury Interactive Corporation, companies can load test their web sites and other systems over the Internet prior to deployment.